If you’re familiar with the genre, then you’ve seen this movie already. Way of Life is typical Teton Gravity Research fare with their infamous band of electrifying skiers hitting the steepest big mountain runs doable (and a few that are not). There are the usual little interviews, the overarching theme that ties the commentaries together and the segments of skiers goofing around in the backcountry. But then there’s the skiing and that, of course, is what we’re here for. So, you might say, “So what if there are no surprises, this stuff never gets old.” Sage, McIntosh, Ligare, Spriggs and company tearing down and flying off the steepest gnarliest lines. TGR have been doing this for ages so they know how to get those killer shots from the helicopters and helmet cams. TGR gets them by the trailer load, hitting you like a howitzer, just banger after banger shot of full on shredding.

Among the highlights, the segment with the U.S. Freeski Team training at Mammoth bears rewatching in this post Sochi Olympics world as the footage includes the work of Gold and Bronze medalists (respectively) Joss Christensen and Nick Goepper. Ingeniously shot from overhead, the flow and vision exhibited by these skiers shows why a sweep for the U.S. team on the debut Olympic podium for slopestyle skiing should not come as a shock.

Ski movies are definitely going in a new direction with the pace set by recent films like “All.I.Can” and “Valhalla”, so if you can only watch one ski movie this year, it might not be Way of Life. But, with this type of talent and shots, TGR may want to engineer a few surprises next year to make sure they keep our attention. By Mark “The Attorney General” Quail